Better-off are urged to start doing their share for charity

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Ed Miliband at Michael Faraday School in southeast London yesterday. He called for a fairer BritainStefan Rousseau/PA

Anushka AsthanaandMichael Savage

Published at 12:01AM, May 24 2011

Middle class and wealthy people give a lower proportion of their income to
charity than the poor, ministers revealed yesterday, as they launched a
drive to encourage Britain’s better-off to become more generous.

Figures released by the Cabinet Office showed that the poorest 10 per cent of
households in the country give on average 3.2 per cent of their income to
charity while the richest 10 per cent give 0.8 per cent. Those in the middle
give 1.1 per cent.

The Giving
White Paper, published yesterday, concluded: “We think there is
significant potential for the better-off to give more.” It